Dives that become data
Divers already log what they see. With their consent, that can help people who study the sea.
What the data is, and how it is protected
Dive logs hold more than memories. With consent, parts of them can support the people who study the sea.
What can be shared
Six kinds of observation from dive logs can become research data.
- Sightings and protected species. Which species were seen where and when, including protected ones.
- Debris and threats. Counts of debris and threats to the reef, such as pests or damage.
- Coral health and conditions. Coral condition and bleaching, plus water temperature and visibility logged on real dives.
Consent, programme by programme
Nothing is shared by default. A diver or shop opts in to one programme at a time.
- Withdraw any time. Withdrawing stops all future sharing for that programme.
- A clear scope. Each programme states its region and the data types it asks for before anyone joins.
Sensitive species stay protected
Where an animal could be disturbed or poached, its location is shown less precisely or later.
- Coarser locations. Positions are generalised to an area instead of a single spot.
- Delayed release. Sensitive sightings are held back for a while before they appear in any export.
Quality researchers can weigh
Not every observation is equally certain, so each carries a mark of how it was checked.
- Guide confirmation. A dive guide can confirm what a diver logged.
- Trained observers. Observers trained by a partner are marked, so researchers can weigh their records.
Standard formats, research use only
Partners get exports in CSV and Darwin Core, formats that research platforms already accept.
- For research only. Exports are made for research and carry no personal data.
- No scraping, no auto-submit. Nothing is sent to another platform without the diver’s consent.
Sources DiveHive uses and credits
The species guide builds on open sources, each credited where its data appears.
- Names and records. WoRMS for classification and names, GBIF and OBIS for occurrence records and ranges.
- Photos and text. iNaturalist photos under open Creative Commons licences, and Wikipedia summaries with credit and a link.
- DiveHive’s own sightings. Sightings logged on DiveHive, shared only as consented aggregates.
Data stays in its region
A partner’s data is stored in the region of the area its programme covers.
- Same rules everywhere. Consent follows a strict privacy baseline, whatever country the diver is in.